The Golden Sun Triumvirate
The Golden Sun Triumvirate is an alliance between three powerful factions; the Kaas Hegemonies, the Chiss Ascendancy and the Zabrak Republic. The alliance was built on the ashes of the former Sith Empire, orchestrated almost entirely by the Chiss who, due to their isolationist nature, were almost entirely untouched by the scream. The Kaas Hegemonies is an individualistic, , militarist, spiritualist and xenophobic feudalistic monarchy. The Zabrak Republic is a fanatically militarist, collectivist, xenophobic and materialistic military dictatorship. The Chiss Ascendancy is a fanatically collectivist, isolationist (rather than outright pacifist), fanatically xenophobic and fanatically spiritualist caste based oligarchy. Chiss Ascendancy The Chiss Ascendancy (CA) is an Empire with a strict caste based society and a very isolationist society. They have strange customs and are extremely traditionalist and conservative, taking pride in their constructed language, that is almost impossible to learn if not learned from birth. While regarded as an Empire, the Chiss are not particularly oppressive. Freedom and liberty are not really concepts the Chiss are culturally familiar with, the Chiss believe in being productive members of society, and suffering in silence if unhappy. Strong parallels can be drawn between the Chiss and many oriental nations, just a few hundred years back. Naturally, not everyone in the CA are as conforming as the rest which has given birth to powerful clans, some of which are outright criminal in nature. These clans have become a very powerful faction within the Exchange. Not much is known about the mysterious CA, for instance, it's largely unknown what their stance on psionics is, or what they do with their own psionics. There is moderate evidence suggesting that they tend to train their psionics for military use, same as the Federation. They are still very isolationist, and while not hateful towards other species or cultures, they are naturally suspicious towards anyone who isn't Chiss. The Chiss are not against slavery, as their society is a a caste based one, but their only slaves are Chiss of the slave caste. The nobility in the CA brandish lightfoils and use them for duels. Kaas Hegemonies The Kaas Hegemonies has it's capital on Dromund Kaas, in the Kaas system, the former seat of the Sith Empire. Generally more inclined towards dictatorship than towards democracy, but generally unwilling to be ruled by a religious oppressive group again, the people of the Kaas Hegemonies were generally greatly divided on how to view psionics. Some still believed that being ruled by Psionics was the way forward, others felt that psionics should be murdered at birth. It wasn't until a few hundred years later, when the Zakuul survivors made contact with the Kaas Hegemonies, seeking to join, that a decision was made to adopt the old Zakuul stance on psionics. The Kaas Hegemonies consists of a number of royal families, the head of which is referred to as Kaas (i.e. The Kaas of Zakuul). The Kaas choose a Kaas'ah (great Kaas) who represents the Hegemonies, but also rules the Hegemonies to an extent, for the duration of his lifetime, or until he is successfully deposed. The Kaas'ar rules from Dromund Kaas. The Mandalorians survived the scream, becoming one of the Kaas Hegemonies. The Kaas are slavers and are extremely xenophobic, but they do not mistreat their slaves, as they are strongly against oppression. They put great stock in treating those beneath their own station well. Slaves in the Kaas Hegemonies are often treated better than citizens. Unfortunately, only humanoid aliens (Zabraks and Chiss excluded) are considered slave-worthy species - they absolutely detest non-humanoid aliens. Each Kaas Hegemony has it's own slightly different feudal structure - some do not actually have a Feudal Structure and chose their Kaas democratically. The noblity of the Kaas Hegemonies, like the Chiss nobility, brandish lightfoils and use them for duels. Zabrak Republic The Zabrak Republic is a powerful military dictatorship. Iridonia, the Zabrak homeworld, is a Federation planet, but the Zabrak of the Former Sith Empire were stranded in great number when the scream occurred. They have formed a powerful Republic, originally they were opting for membership in the Kaas Hegemonies, but when the Kaas Hegemonies decided to enslave all aliens, there was a brief Cold War, resulting in the Kaas Hegemonies officially supporting the Zabrak Republic into forming as an independent faction. As a result, "Horns or Hair" is a now a popular saying in the Golden Sun Triumvirate, meaning that all are welcome. The Zabrak Republic endured many difficult years forming their Republic, which is a total military dictatorship, ruled by a Warlord titled "the Zakaas" - obvious evidence of their once close relation to the Kaas Hegemonies. The Zabrak do not believe in slavery themselves, seeing it as weakness, but they make a great profit selling slaves to the Hegemonies. The Zabrak train their psionics in the military, and their battle-psions are among the most feared commando units in the galaxy. Zakuul Influence The Zakuul Influence in the Triumvirate is great and encompassing. When the Zakuul Survivors joined the Kaas Hegemonies, they brought with them, remnants of the old Zakuul society, which was soon adopted by the Triumvirate as a whole. The Triumvirate has adopted a council of Scions, which is formally a part of the military. The Scions have no actual authority, but they are counted among the most important individuals in the Triumvirate. The Scions are seers who use their powers to try and predict the best courses of action, advising the leaders of the Triumvirate. It's an unwritten law of tradition that the advice of the Scions MUST be heeded. The only reason the Commercium has not thrown a fit about this, is because the Scions are surprisingly reluctant to give advice, but they also appear to maintain a degree of neutrality, occasionally reaching out to other nations, offering advice that has once before saved millions of lives. There was a great incidence at one point, where a Scion infiltrated a Federation military base, killed several guards all to kill one person, a high ranking military official of the Federation. Hours later, it was revealed that the same person was planning a military coup, and had plans to release a biological agent in the water supply of a very large Federation world. The Scion was captured and allegedly wounded moments later, but what become of the Scion is unknown, and no diplomatic incidence arose of the matter. Scions The Scions of the Triumvirate serve a much honored position in society. Officially they are considered a part of the join military of the Triumvirate, but are outside the normal ranking structure. Scions maintain some of the last shred of Jedi/Sith culture remaining in the galaxy after the scream, in that they believe very strongly that it is their duty to use their gifts of precognition to help the population of the galaxy - almost religiously. They also carry lightsabers. The Scions have among them, some of the last lightsaber artisans in the galaxy. The Scions are many, but only a small portion of the psionics in the triumvirate have what it takes to become a Scion - Scions are not trained as would be Jedi or Sith, rather their Lightsaber is a symbol of office, and their mandate is to gaze into the future and try to advise. They do practice lightsaber combat as a matter of tradition of course - and among the nobility of the CA and the Kaas Hegemonies, it's considered extremely prestigious to have trained, just a single semester, under one of the Scion blademasters. The Scions create the lightfoils that are sold and used among the nobility and high ranking military officials through out the Triumvirate. It's speculated that not all Scions are seers, and that some select few are allowed into their ranks for other reasons, perhaps to keep particularly powerful psionics from becoming military agents, as the Scions do not, as a rule, interfere in war directly. It's also a known fact, that the Scions accept members from outside the Triumvirate, sometimes even seeking them out themselves.